Have you ever had someone prove to you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they have absolutely no effing idea what they're talking about?
Women in particular get comments about their anatomy and reproductive health so often that it's almost commonplace. Those misconceptions can be so prevalent that they even make their way into potential law.
That's how we end up with proposed laws for things like "relocating" ectopic pregnancies when that procedure literally does not exist.
Reddit user ReallyQuiteRude asked:
Women of Reddit, what is the dumbest thing a man has ever said to you about sex, reproductive health, menstruation, etc.?
The lack of understanding of how basic female reproductive health is truly staggering. Maybe we should stop separating children in sexual education classes (and actually teaching those classes with medically accurate information) because this is ... a lot to process.
Choosing The Sex
Giphy"My ex was convinced that he could consciously choose the sex of any children he fathered. He'd heard (presumably in some science class) that the sperm "decides" the sex of a baby, which is cool and all. But he got hung up on that phrasing and wouldn't listen to logic."
A Disease Now
"My best friend was having sex with her new boyfriend and unexpectedly got her period. She was embarrassed because they had just started dating, and instead of comforting her his response was to disgustedly say "am I going to get a disease now or something?" he's an ex-boyfriend now."
- er_bear
Breaking Up Sooner
"My ex asked me how I knew my period was over. He was 21 at the time. Now, that wouldn't have even been that bad, but I started to explain how the flow gets lighter until it eventually stops and he cut me off. Said it was gross and he regretted asking."
"He also thought any pubic hair on a woman was gross. I get wanting it tidy, but he thought all women should be shaved/waxed all the time. And no, his pubic area was never hair-free."
"My only regret was not breaking up with him sooner."
Missing One Period
"My friend's husband thought women knew they were pregnant by missing just one period and that it started again the next month. It gave me a giggle."
Stretch First
Giphy"Before I understood how periods work or what period cramps are, I remember there was a day in middle school PE where the class was running laps but two girls were not participating and instead walking slowly around the outside of the track. When someone asked them why they weren't running they said "we have cramps" and my dumb self, assuming they both somehow got leg cramps or something from trying to run, said something to the effect of "that's your fault, that's why you need to stretch first!"
"Later on after learning some stuff, I remembered the incident and their silent, shocked confusion at my response made perfect sense."
The Exact Moment I Realized
"My creepy older boyfriend when I was 18 made a comment (in front of friends) about the first time we hooked up."
He said: "When I hit your g-spot, your legs clamped down on my head like a vice."
I said "You never hit my g-spot. The g-spot is on the inside."
He responded in a condescending tone, "You have more than one g-spot, dear."
If I had to pinpoint the exact moment when I realized I was dating an idiot, it'd be right then.
Reschedule
"I once used my period to get out of a date with one guy and he seriously said, "can't you reschedule it or something?"
Anemia Treatment
"Cant you just stop the anemia by injecting your period blood back in?"
Wrong On So Many Levels
"He was CONVINCED that it was impossible to have twins, as "the uterus only produces one egg per month". He also thought women could ONLY get pregnant on their period, because "the sperm swims up the blood". When I told him it's the complete opposite, he said "Oh, what does the sperm swim up then. The piss?" I then explained that women do not piss out of their vagina. He then exclaimed "wait, there's two holes???"
"I officially lost it when he told me that the vagina is in the same place as a mans penis, you know, "bellow the belly button".
"Let's just say I'm glad i never ended up dating this guy."
Immoral Women
"Someone once complained about how, "Women are immoral because having a period is equal to having an abortion." Luckily this was a teaching moment and he learned something that day."
Like A Chicken
Giphy"I once got asked by my ex if I ever saw the egg cone out during my period"
"He thought the reason girls had cramps was because they passed an egg like a chicken would or it was at least like passing a kidney stone."
Women Don't Poop
"Stop lying, you don't poop. Men do."
"Actual ex boyfriend who was a high school football player who GRADUATED."
"When he finally asked his mother (yeah...) he was so disgusted, I thought he was kidding but he really wasn't."
- slampons
Unlocking Your Female Power
"Girls can control their periods and bleed whenever they want to." This fool was the only boy with probably eight girls at the table. It got bad when he INSISTED he was right and got angry as eight other girls repeatedly told him no. He tried to explain how the female body works and how if they tried they would just stop bleeding, like they could just "unlock" this female power inside them. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Mind you this dude was your typical creepy low IQ rude virgin. (I think, or I hope he was a virgin. He went for the really quiet small freshman and all the other girls warned everyone not to date him. Big ugly rude mass of a dude.) No idea why those girls allowed him to sit at the table. I see him wandering around the mall all the time circling the food court and I always remember this period instance."
Night Pads
"I went over to my dad's place, and unexpectedly got my period. I was sitting on the toilet, panicking because I only had a leftover tampon from the last time my sister was here, and I use pads. So I begged my dad (who was about to come home) to please go to the store and pick up "night pads" for me (I always use night time pads because I have a heavy flow), and told him I didn't have any pads at all with me, so I really needed him to buy some."
"Well... He came home, I thanked him a lot for picking up the pads, and he said: "Wait, I didn't buy them. They're night pads and it's still daytime. We have time."
"I had to explain to him WHY I specifically asked for "night pads".
All Boys School
"My partner saw a midwife friend on his Facebook post a status about a 'bum breech' baby she had delivered. He thought it meant the baby breaches it's mother's vaginal wall on the way out and ends up being born out of the mum's bumhole. I explained breech birth to him and it made more sense, I think his explanation is pretty funny though (probably not for the mumma in that situation.)"
"He also thought you could cause injury to your unborn baby in the womb if you have sex while pregnant - as in the cervix and walls were so thin you could poke the baby with your penis. He was therefore adamant if I ever get pregnant I wouldn't be getting any D until the coast is clear. I had to show him an anatomy diagram from Google for that one."
"You probably won't be surprised to know that this particular big dummy went to an all boys school. He's my big dummy though."
Pleasurable?
"I was talking with a few female friends about tampons and pads and which we prefer (we were sleeping over at a friend's and a few of us were on our period) and my male best friend was shocked that I didn't like using tampons. Turns out he thought that inserting a tampon was "supposed to be pleasurable, just like having sex." I cried with laughter for what felt like ages."
Brain Damage
Giphy"Guy here, once knew a guy who thought that any time a guy ejaculated in a woman, the sperm would stay in their body, and eventually swim up to their brain, giving them brain damage."
"As such, it was his duty as a man to be willing to commit to taking care of women he slept with because every time they had sex she would become a little bit dumber/less capable of living without him and eventually nothing more than a mindless shell."
- Aazadan
That's Not What Curves Mean
"That having sex makes a girl fully develop. My ex-husband truly believed that if a teenage girl had curves, it was evidence that she was sexually active."
"He also believed a pelvic exam and inserting tampons caused arousal."
Not From The Vagina
"The worst offender was an old coworker (who really liked bringing up sex all the time) because absolutely flabbergasted that pee doesn't come from the vagina. He swore up and down I didn't know WHAT I was talking about, that that's 'the only hole it can come out of' and wouldn't listen to me until I googled a diagram to show him. At which point he was grossed out."
"The guy was like, 40, and I was no older than 22 at the time, which I guess is why he thought he knew better, but still guy. Yeesh."
- Perscoot
Condoms And Hymens
"It did not happen to me but to many female friends of mine..."When you have sex for the first time, you should not use condom. Otherwise, you cannot break the hymen".
We clearly need better reproductive health classes!
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
